


On the Peculiarities of Midgardians

by Starrie_Wolf



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: AvLand Mission 10, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 12:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4059793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years ago, if you’d asked Sif for her opinion on Midgardians, she would have confessed that she’d never thought much about them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Peculiarities of Midgardians

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [AvLand Mission 10](http://avland.livejournal.com/), Challenge #02: Character Spotlight.
> 
> Task: Write something about one of the following characters - Jane Foster, James Rhodey, Lady Sif, Lance Hunter, Bobbi Morse

Three years ago, if you’d asked Sif for her opinion on Midgardians, she would have confessed that she’d never thought much about them. Thor was the one with the peculiar enthusiasm for those primitive mortals, whose lifespans were but the flutter of a hummingbird’s wings. She wasn’t like Loki, she had no delusions of grandeur, no desire to be worshipped as a god. She was content in her hard-won repute as a fearsome warrior, second to none but the Crown Prince himself.

Then Thor was banished, Odin fell into eternal slumber, and Loki was suddenly the new King of Asgard. Things that she’d taken for granted for eons were suddenly no longer fact. For what was possibly the first time in her life, Sif found herself turning to Midgard for aid.

And at first, everything she saw of Midgard only proved her thoughts true. They were weak, fragile, and oh- _so_ -breakable. Their flimsy homestead constructs collapsed at a single careless swing from a Destroyer. There wasn’t a decent sword anywhere in sight. And Thor’s new friends – well. Sif was no expert in technology, but even she could explain the quantum mechanics behind inter-dimensional portal creation – and these were supposed to be the leading scientists on Midgard?

She watched Thor pull further and further away, his thoughts torn between his rightful place on the throne and that Midgardian female, who probably couldn’t handle a dagger to save her life, and could not understand why.

(“You must walk amongst them to truly understand, Sif.” Thor had told her when questioned on this matter, and would say no more.)

She’d heard about those self-styled Avengers, of course. Thor had claimed them his brothers-in-arms, and availed himself of every chance to extol their virtues with increasingly tedious ballads. He even went as far to suggest Sif look one of them up, though Sif had no idea why he thought she might be interested in a lady whose husband had passed. She was hardly in the mood to commiserate about Haldor with some stranger, and even Thor wouldn’t be that tactless.

Then she met Jane Foster (again), a _civilian_ (Odin forbid) who had somehow come into possession of the Aether. She did not fault the woman for it – the Infinity Stones had a will of their own, and despite all her misgivings Sif was first and foremost a lady of honour. Thor’s beloved might have had innumerable faults, but she was no Loki; she did not seek out the Aether voluntarily, Sif would lay her sword upon it. This should not have been the way she departed the mortal realm, but such was the will of the Norns.

It would have been no shame to die from containing the Aether. And perhaps that would have been for the best. Perhaps, then, Sif might have supported Thor on his quest to bear his beloved to Valhalla, on the account that she fell in battle against Malekith. It would have been a warrior’s death by any reckoning.

Except, against all odds, Jane Foster _lived_.

It was like Vanaheimian stone golem clashing against her shield, chipping away at her defences. Far greater warriors than her had succumbed to the power of the Infinity Stones; who _was_ this woman?

But contemplation would have wait. First, she had a job to do. Lorelei had taken advantage of the chaos Malekith had sown to escape, and had found her way to Midgard. Sif wasn’t surprised. Midgard was well-known as the weakest of the Nine Realms, with almost no defences against the mental arts. It was perfect for Lorelei’s purposes.

She could have _screamed_ when the Asgardian Collar bent in her hands, the ritual circle upon it broken. By the time she could return to Midgard with another Collar, Lorelei would have laid waste to several of its cities.

Then Leo Fitz took the Collar from her, and with neither foreknowledge nor the appropriate tools fixed it. If this was the ingenuity of Midgardian scientists, Sif could begin to understand why Thor was so enamoured with them. In fact, didn’t one of his latest ballads feature one such scientist, a man who had saved his life with the opportune establishment of an inter-dimensional portal before he could be crushed under Malekith’s ship?

In the span of two years, they had gone from children fumbling in the dark with a power they barely comprehend to creating stable portals and resurrecting the departed.

A year later, when the young Midgardian woman turned her own weapon upon herself to protect her allies, Sif came to a startling revelation: whoever who looked down upon Midgardians was a _fool_.

They were primitive, and fragile, and uncultured, yes, but they were also unbelievably resourceful, and loyal to a fault, and courageous in the face of adversity. Was it not Midgardians who harnessed the power of an Infinity Stone to power their weaponry, to even create _life_? Was it not Midgardians who drove away Loki and his army of Chitauri? To dismiss these accomplishments would make her no better than those who sneered at her aspirations to serve in Odin’s court as a warrior.

Sif was many things, but she was no fool.

Three years later and several Midgardian comrades richer, Sif would tell you that she has never met any individual in the Nine Realms whom she would be more honoured to call _friend_.

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine the look on Sif's face when Thor starts composing ballads to the Eye of Hawk, though, especially the part where he was able to resist mind control that had felled a Prince of Asgard.
> 
> [I have a Tumblr if you're interested!](starriewolf.tumblr.com)


End file.
